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shebephoebe's review
fast-paced
3.0
The set-up gave me hope for a decent story, but the book didn’t have a plot driven by a goal so much as a bunch of action scenes stuck together with duct tape and prayer.
Wolf Soldier book does not deliver on its premise. What dreams is Connor forced to give up to save his home? How on earth does Connor’s family history threaten to betray them? The “local girl” isn’t even introduced until nearly a third of the way in (surprise! she has a POV but you wouldn’t guess it from the synopsis, where she’s barely mentioned); and it takes even longer for her to actually meet up with the rest of the team. Don’t even get me started on the titular “Wolf Soldier”.
Wolf Soldier book does not deliver on its premise. What dreams is Connor forced to give up to save his home? How on earth does Connor’s family history threaten to betray them? The “local girl” isn’t even introduced until nearly a third of the way in (surprise! she has a POV but you wouldn’t guess it from the synopsis, where she’s barely mentioned); and it takes even longer for her to actually meet up with the rest of the team. Don’t even get me started on the titular “Wolf Soldier”.
Logistically, the plot is a mess. Who plans to reinstate a hero academy but doesn’t bring along more than oats, berries, and pork fat to feed a bunch of hard-working teenagers? What about the horses? What are they gonna eat in the mountains in wintertime? And then, after giving these teenagers a scant month of training, they get sent off with no guide, no help, no armor…nothing but canticles and some spiritual admonishment. (They are literally told “stop asking questions, don’t worry about the future, there isn’t a plan, just shut up and trust God’s guidance” which is no way to stop a war.)
The kicker? We don’t meet the villain until about ninety percent of the way in.
Yes, the book is action-packed, but there’s not much in the way of an emotional payoff. Every life-or-death situation is fixed with a literal deus ex machina wherein the characters have enough faith and say the right prayer and the God-equivalent of this universe magically fixes everything, right down to magical armor.
Overall, Wolf Soldier is showy without offering much substance. While the writing style itself is clean and precise, the characters are well-defined, the audio quality and narrator are top notch, and the action keeps things moving, it doesn’t ring true. It doesn’t get brownie points for being Christian when it cares more about feel-good spiritual fluff than telling a good story.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death
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